Monday, September 23, 2013

100th Post Spectacular! Introducing Adakar!

It's my 100th post! Something like that means I need to bring something special to the table. What's more special than a figure that no one else owns? I'm not Heroic Decepticon awesome with the rarities that makes others drool, or have ginormous all-encompassing collections like flywheels or Arkvander, or have the ability to influence others through the power of the written word like Maz, so don't think that I have some ultra rare figure that no one else has even heard of. Nope, this is just a simple custom that I created to indulge my love of Seekers. Hopefully, this goes well.

Adakar has been a long time coming. I'm actually embarrassed that I posted a pic of him so long ago before he was completed. I really didn't factor on how long it would take for the custom missiles to arrive. Seriously. Most of this post was originally written in November of 2012. Thinking that I was being smart and thrifty at the same time, I opted to go for reproduction missiles. That proved to be a mistake. I ordered them in October and here it is nearly a year later, I have yet to receive them. According to the guy I ordered them from, they're still processing which makes me wonder if he's whittling them from a large block of plastic. Getting frustrated, I finally caved in and ordered real missiles. Lesson learned, I suppose.

At any rate, here's his bio:

Name: Adakar
Function: Assault

Adakar's lust for destruction and chaos knows no bounds. At the start of the war he was heavily recruited by both sides but chose the Deceptions after Optimus Prime realized that Adakar wanted nothing more than wanton destruction.

Adakar's loyalty to Megatron is absolute as long as Megatron allows him free reign to destroy. He has no ambition of power. While Megatron has made Adakar a Seeker, he does not affiliate with them unless commanded by Megatron, which is rare.

Adakar is normally sent to outlying planets or outposts to prepare them for siege by the Decepticons. He will arrive and destroy military installations and bodies of government. Once a planet's defenses have been weakened, the main force will arrive to finish the job while Adakar journeys to his next target. This is a job Adakar has expressed to Megatron that he would continue even after the war is over no matter which side wins.

Despite the efficiency and prowess Adakar displays at his job, he is not popular with other Decepticons. Adakar's penchant for wanton destruction carries over to his fellow Decepticons - he will destroy anything in his path be it friend or foe. It is this reason why Megatron gave him his current assignment. The other reason for Decepticon distaste for Adakar is his habit of decorating his quarters with parts of those he has felled in combat. Many find this disconcerting. The only Decepticon to actually communicate with Adakar on a regular basis is Starscream, who wants Adakar to side with him in his quest to overthrow Megatron. A quest that Adakar has rebuffed knowing that Starscream would never be able to pull it off.

So that's his bio. It's a work in progress as I'm not so great at coming up with backstories. I didn't even come up with his name. When I was part of a Transformer Roleplay group, we did a roleplay without any "real" TFs and Adakar was the main villain. Unfortunately the person playing as Adakar got bogged down with work and school, so we never finished. I always liked the name, so I decided to use it. His backstory and alt-mode have been completely changed.

Creating Adakar was relatively simple. I had tons of Seeker parts literally just lying around. I had accumulated several bodies in various stages of decay and disrepair so I was able to just cobble together pieces to make the body. As you can see, not all of the parts are in the nest of shape. One wing is kind of chewed with the post for the launcher on the one wing is broken, and the nosecone isn't exactly pointy, but I'm fairly pleased with how the pieces fit together once painted.

The hardest part was picking the color. I went with gunmetal gray as the primary color with a red chest and blue accents for the launcher and fists. Painting was a breeze. I gave my wife the parts and the paint and she did it all for me. See? Simple. She's much better at painting things than I am, so I was fine with letting her have all of the fun.

In case you're wondering why Adakar is only equipped with the so-called long missiles, I'll let you in on a little secret: I don't like the short missiles. The cluster bombs just don't do anything for me. The longer missiles just look awesome. Well, there's also the fact that I had to cram the missiles into the launchers. The paint made them kind of thick, so they won't be coming out without any kind of breakage. It's the classic look from the cartoon, and I just love it.

For decals, I involved my wife yet again. I showed her the three original Seekers - Skywarp, Starscream and Thundercracker and let her decide on which decals worked best. She chose Thundercracker, and I agreed. Gotta say, I really like the way they look on him.

Well, that's it for Adakar. I hope that everyone likes him as much as I do. I had a blast making him, but I wish it hadn't taken close to a year to complete. Ordering reproduction parts will not be an option again after this. If, for some reason, I actually do get these parts in the mail one day, I'll use them for something.

Seekers Unite!

Missile launcher Seekers

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and check out my little corner of the Internet. I know that I'm not the biggest blog out there, so I'm very appreciative to all of you who do stop by. After this first hundred posts, I'm hoping do a million more. Here's to the whatever the future may bring and to whatever Transformers I happen to get along the way. I'll see everyone back next week for my next post!

9 comments:

Awesome job! I've customized G.I. Joe toys before, but I've never thought about tackling a G1 toy before. I love the part about your wife helping. Before Charticon I don't think my wife would even care to help with something like this, but post-Charticon I'm sure she would jump at the chance to help...time permitting that is.

Awesome job on the bio too, very well written. All in all it looks great. You going to do another seeker in the future? I always thought a black/red seeker would look awesome. Maybe use Starscream as the base, but with a black deco w/ red trim on the wings and tail fins?

I've been kicking around a few ideas on Seeker decos, but I've really been gravitating towards pinstriping a G1 car. But I don't think I have the skill or patience for that. I'm sure my wife does, however.

Adakar is very cool. In the past I haven't been as interested in customs, but they are starting to grow on me. I like how he is almost mocking Starscream by using colors close to his, but not exact. Almost like he's saying he's a better seeker than Screamer ever could be, especially since he only answers to Megatron and has no delusions of grandeur. Looking forward to seeing more!

Thanks for the kind words. I didn't really think about the mocking of Starscream, to be honest. I was really going for a main color I hadn't seen before that wasn't super garish. Besides, gunmetal grey is beautiful.

100 and going strong. Firstly, thanks for the call out, much appreciated. =)

It’s a great idea for a landmark post – something that no one has, not even Arkvander, Flywheels or myself have this! Haha. I like the bio, it’s a nice one and using a name that means something to you. Really like it that your wife chipped in to help to, always nice that the other half is supportive of our hobby… it’s a rare thing and I have seen people suffer because their other half is not supportive.

I've always been a bit of a hype man/cheerleader. It's been my belief that if you like something, share with others so that they may enjoy it as well. Thanks, as always for the encouragement!My wife wasn't always super supportive of the habit, but I've worn her down. Finally. But I'm glad that she isn't condescending about it.